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We don’t claim any expertise in national security matters, nor even detailed knowledge regarding the Kirakou and Drake whistleblower cases to which this plea for funding is addressed. We decided to associate ourselves with their cause because we view the corrupting power of concentrated wealth, the problem we call Big Money, as only one of the two existential threats our country faces; the other is Big Government. That’s not Big Government as Republican politicians frame the problem — “entitlements” “regulations” “taxes” — but civil liberties and civil rights violations on a massive scale. For Black Lives Matter, it’s government in the form of homicidal local police and the racism that fuels their rage and undergirds much of the political support that Republican politicians exploit. For the whistleblowers, it’s the national security state, a central aspect of which is a system of illegal surveillance and First Amendment abuses that transcend race.

A new book, Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post-9/11 Presidency, by Charlie Savage, New York Times Washington Correspondent, documents the existence and workings of America’s new permanent security state. It’s a chilling account of how our country has moved far beyond the Imperial Presidency.

What Reagan Meant by ‘States’ Rights’ in Mississippi

The truth of Gore Vidal’s description of America as the “United States of Amnesia” was evident at the second Republican primary debate of 2015, moderated by political analyst Dana Bash and CNN’s Jake Tapper and Hugh Hewitt.

After the Second World War, Pfizer circumvented the traditional drug distribution networks and began marketing its products directly to hospitals and physicians. Pfizer became the leading advertiser in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It ran ads for antibiotics that displayed the names of doctors who endorsed its products — the doctors were fictitious. Its aggressive sales tactics through various promotions and teams of detail men came to be known as the “Pfizer Blitz.”

Industry Pushes Disinformation About Fracking Safety

In the wake of New York State’s decision to ban fracking, drilling proponents have criticized Governor Andrew Cuomo and his administration for basing the decision on “pseudo science” and “junk science.” When asked about the New York fracking ban at his 2015 “State of American Energy” press conference, American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Jack Gerard called for “more thoughtful consideration as to economics, environment and sound science — because the science is clearly on the side of development and on the side of industry.”

Civil Disobedience Campaign Enters Second Year

Nineteen people from New York, New Jersey and as far away as North Carolina added their bodies and voices to the blockade at Crestwood’s proposed methane gas storage facility on the shores of Seneca Lake on the morning of December 9, 2015. They stood in an orderly line with banners reading “Protecting Our Only Home” and “There Is No Plan(et) B” across the entrance to Crestwood’s facility on Route 14 in Watkins Glen. It was the third blockade to happen that week, timed to coincide with the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris. Over 450 people have been arrested in similar actions over the past year.

Scientist’s Work Exposed Fracking’s Toxic Stew

In 2007, the renowned scientist Theo Colborn appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to testify about the public health dangers of hydraulic fracturing. Colborn, the founder of the nonprofit The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) in Colorado, did decades of research on the harmful effects that industrial and fossil fuel chemicals have on endocrine health. She was a tireless advocate for stronger government regulation of such chemicals. The following is an excerpt of her 2007 Congressional testimony. Dr. Colborn died in 2014.